Bluegrass music gets in the blood
The Bluegrass Brothers are from the heart of bluegrass country: southwestern Virginia and its tiny towns nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains.
And they brought that musical magic – complete with guitars and banjos – to Bible Hill’s Agridome for the recent Annual Nova Scotia Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Festival that drew hundreds of fans from around the province.
“It’s a form of music that’s still pure and organic. It’s done all acoustically and it’s played the same way it was played back in the ’20s and ’30s and ’40s,” said Bluegrass Brothers member Chris Hart. “ e songs have changed but the way you play it hasn’t.”
e band was formed in 1989 by Victor and Donald Dowdy, with Hart joining in 2011.
Victor plays bass while Donald is on mandolin; Hart plays guitar and dobro and Jamie Sparks plays banjo. All four members take turns singing, which they did to loud applause in Bible Hill.
Indeed, the Bluegrass Brothers are old Canada hands, having played shows north of the border since 2001 and they’ve built up a large following here.
All four members are close friends, having seen each other at various Bluegrass gigs. ey are currently based out of Roanoke, Virginia.
“A lot of the original bluegrass comes from that area, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and we’re just carrying on the tradition that many others started before us,” explained Hart.
Today, a new generation of Canadians is carrying on the bluegrass tradition north of the border.
While most audience members were older, the Bluegrass Brothers and other performers held music workshops for youth at the Agridome that were well attended.
Darlene Macneil, whose daughter Melody is learning bluegrass rhythms, says the genre is one that families could enjoy and it brings together generations.
“Literally when she was four weeks old, she was at her rst bluegrass festival and fell asleep in front of the main stage speakers,” said Macneil, who hails from Belnan in East Hants. “Today, she’s 15 and she was on the stage playing four di erent instruments and singing.”
Melody played in the morning before the main acts took the stage as part of the “next generation section” of Bluegrass artists at the Agridome.
“If they’re raised into it and exposed to it, it becomes part of the fabric of their lives, which certainly is her case,” said Macneil.
Bluegrass has already been part of Doug and Irene Mcrae’s lives for decades.
e couple, who live just outside Truro in Nuttby Mountain, said they enjoyed meeting people and listening to traditional music that brought back memories of their youth.
“ e songs tell a story,” said Irene.